The Visionary: Major Mike Erwin

This hero founded Team Red, White, and Blue to provide support for wounded veterans.

It was the 10th anniversary of 9/11, and U.S. Army Major Mike Erwin had just started mile 68 of a 91.1-mile tribute run. His feet hurt and his left arm ached from carrying an enormous, faded American flag. But when a spectator asked him why he was running with Old Glory, he brightened. "I'm running with Team Red, White, and Blue," he said, "to support and honor Americans wounded in action."

Erwin created Team RWB in 2010 expressly for those Americans. The organization matches civilians with wounded vets transitioning from military to civilian life. Team RWB "advocates" ease that transition by offering vets everything from daily phone calls to baby-sitting help and job-placement assistance. "We're connecting people who want to say thank you to a veteran beyond just writing a check," says Erwin, 31, who has deployed three times to Iraq and Afghanistan and teaches at the U.S. Military Academy at West Point.

The team relies on runners and triathletes to help spread the word and raise funds. Last year, 3,000 athletes raised more than $400,000 for Team RWB by competing in everything from 5-Ks to ultras. Ultimately, Erwin wants to get more vets running. "It's the most under-prescribed medication," he says. For vets with traumatic brain injury and PTSD especially, running can rebuild them psychologically and socially, he says. "It's that powerful a tool."

An occasional runner, Eusebio Collazo, 30, of Houston, leads a richer life now, thanks to Team RWB. The former Marine sergeant suffers the lingering physical and psychological effects of a 2005 mortar attack in Iraq. Team RWB paired him with Chris Widell, 32, a former Army officer and a marathoner. The two men talk or text several times a week, and their families get together at least once a month. "Chris started out as my advocate," says Collazo, "but now I see him as my friend."